Image source, Humberside PoliceImage caption, Robert Bush "caused anguish and pain on a scale beyond comprehension", a judge said
A funeral director who failed to bury or cremate people and gave bereaved relatives the ashes of strangers has been jailed for 20 years.
Some 35 bodies and more than 100 sets of ashes were found by police raiding Legacy Independent Funeral Directors in Hull in March 2024.
Robert Bush admitted 67 offences, including denying 30 people a decent and proper burial, theft from 12 charities, and fraudulent trading over a period of 12 years.
Sentencing him at Hull Crown Court, Judge Justice Hilliard told the former undertaker he had "caused anguish and pain on a scale beyond comprehension".
This story contains details some might find distressing.
The court heard Bush defrauded nearly 200 families out of £500,000 and had acted out of "financial greed".
Hilliard warned that unless a body was one of those recovered by police in 2024 and properly identified, no-one who had used Legacy's cremations services "at any time can be absolutely certain they received the ashes of their loved one".
"He must have a heartless side to him - which allowed him to treat the living and the dead in the way he did, and he was very confident he would get away with what he was doing."
The judge added: "I don't think I have ever known offences affecting so many people and so deeply."
Image source, Humberside PoliceImage caption, The victims whose bodies and ashes were recovered from Legacy's premises in 2024
The five-day hearing, which began on Monday, heard Bush breached the trust of his customers "on an almost industrial scale".
His victims sobbed as prosecutors revealed graphic details about the "chaotic conditions" found inside the funeral home, including how police found the remains of a stillborn baby in a bag on the floor.
Bodies had been left to decompose, unidentified ashes were left in mouldy boxes, and excrement and bodily fluids were found on the floor, which was also strewn with rubbish and family photographs.
More than 200 victims described the devastating and psychological impact of Bush's crimes, many of them weeping as they read out their statements to the court.
Following sentencing, Joanne Moody, whose father Peter Moody was among the 35 bodies recovered from Legacy, said she felt "really, really let down" by the sentence.
"He's going to be out in 10 years. How is that in any way, shape or form right?"
She told the BBC Bush took "the last bit of dignity" from their loved ones.
"He destroyed it," she said. "Why? Why do it to us?"
Image caption, The body of Joanne Moody's father, Peter Moody, was among the 35 bodies recovered from Legacy's "appalling" premises
Bush's crimes were discovered by chance while he was on holiday, following a tip-off from two funeral directors from a different firm who had visited the premises.
The 48-year-old was arrested days later when he landed at Heathrow Airport, later telling police he had debts of about £90,000 and a cash flow problem.
However, on Friday the judge said: "There was no problem with Bush's cash flow - the only problem was the direction it was flowing."
Instead of investing in his business to pay for mortuary fridges and the care of the deceased, Bush "chose" to spend the money on holidays, home improvements and his motorcycle racing hobby.
Hilliard said Bush was "preoccupied with his own enrichment".
"If [Bush] could re-use a coffin someone had already paid for, he would do so. If it was cheaper to keep someone in non-refrigerated conditions, he would do that too."
Moment police officers set foot in 'horror scene' funeral home
"The distress and heartbreak that this investigation has caused for families is simply unimaginable, and even after working on this case rigorously over the last couple of years, the sheer impact this has had on our whole community, and further afield, remains unprecedented," he said.
He described it as the "biggest and most complex investigation" in the force's history, with 300 affected victims and the seizure of "3,000 exhibits and 12,000 items of disclosure".
Outside court, Karen Dry, who used Legacy's services for her parents' funerals in 2016 and 2018, called for a public inquiry, adding the funeral industry was "currently in desperate need of strict regulation".
Currently, the funeral industry in England, Wales and Northern Ireland is self-regulating, relying on voluntary codes and inspections by trade associations.
Prime Minister Andy Burnham said he wanted to ensure "the highest standards" applied to the sector.
He said: "This needs a proper response in terms of the regulation needed, to make sure no family goes through that again.
"People, I think, would assume that the highest standards apply to this area and we've got to make sure that they do apply and that there can't be any repeat of what we've seen."
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Watch: Police officers search Legacy Independent Funeral Directors in Hull
The Department for Health and Social Care has since announced it would develop "proposals for formal regulation of the funeral sector" in order to "ensure better protection for bereaved families".
In a statement, it said it would work with other government departments to "crack down on rogue operators in the funeral sector".
"As part of this work, the Law Commission will undertake a review of the criminal law in relation to the deceased, consider any gaps in existing legal protections and make recommendations on the creation of new offences, if they are needed."
Health and Social Care Secretary Yvette Cooper said: "Every person in every situation deserves dignity in death, and every bereaved family deserves certainty that their loved ones are being treated with care and respect."
If you have been affected by issues surrounding bereavement, information is available via BBC Action Line, including contact details of organisations that can help.
